Each year for the past fifteen, I've had the privilege of spending two intensive weeks teaching the craft of weaving with plant fibers, to young people with wildly diverse backgrounds, between the ages of 8 and 14. As an Artist in Residence at IslandWood, an environmental education campus on Bainbridge Island, just a ferry ride across the water … [Read more...]

I've been meaning to catch up on blogging, but life has its way! Between a bumper crop of raspberries and Marionberries to pick, regular harvesting of our produce, family gatherings, and a lovely hike in the Olympics with friends, I've been silent! I hope to remedy this beginning now, with some entries that are retrospective of the past year or … [Read more...]

I am grateful to be able to teach a cedar bark weaving workshop at IslandWood this upcoming February. For those of you eager to learn about this cultural art form, but you might not have signed up in time, be sure to get on the wait list in case anyone cancels.
https://islandwood.org/event/gifts-landscape-cedar-satchel
NEXT CLASS … [Read more...]

June 6, 2015, I'll be teaching a workshop at the Rolling Barn, in Rolling Bay Washington. I'll be bringing in a freshly cut Western Red Cedar tree so students can learn from the tree to the finishing, how to make a folded cedar bark pouch. The class size is limited so every person will get plenty of individualized attention. There will be enough … [Read more...]

If summer could be woven into a basket, this past Saturday's "Wild Twined Herb and Flower Basket" class at the Rolling BARN is it! The Rolling BARN is the interim location for the Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network, or BARN, http://bainbridgebarn.org
We had a creative day in a really nice space that the volunteer members of BARN have been … [Read more...]

About Melinda

Thirty years ago, while sitting on the beach playing with my young children, I made my first basket out of a pile of willow trimmings someone had tossed there. The experience of weaving with the materials at hand while being together with my sons on a beautiful Pacific Northwest shoreline, kindled a passion for creating art from natural plant materials. I thank my family, my community, and all my teachers for cultivating this gift in me.Read More